The Playhouse Tree

We got our house up to holiday code over the weekend, and here and there the kids have been helping with the finishing touches. We've even started wrapping a few presents.

But that decorating bug has bitten my kiddos and they care not that the house is pretty much decked from hall to hall. They want more.

They each have a little tree in their rooms... but that's not enough.

They have their little wooden tree between them on the table... but that's not enough.

They helped hang ornaments on our big family tree... and pine cones... and candy canes... but that's not enough either.

What's a Mama to do? Well this year, Mama dug out an unused, fake, older-than-the-kids mini tree and sent them outside with it. If there's not enough sparkle and flare in their lives at this point, they can turn their attention to their own house.

Bubba kinda burned out on being told to stop messing with the tree, so he spent the decorating time "sleeping" in their playhouse bedroom. Audrey put the lights on, found leaves and acorns and sticks for ornaments, then went inside to her craft stash and made a star out of pipe cleaners for it's topper.

She was very proud of her playhouse tree. She even sang "O Christmas Tree" to it... in Spanish.

Weekending

This weekend our kiddos stayed with their grandparents so we could slip away to a company holiday party. We spent the hours before the party and then again before the kids came home hunting, dragging in, and trimming this monster tree. Our goal was to have a little holiday magic waiting when the Littles walked through the door. We ended up with a big something magical for them instead, but oh the fun we had climbing up and down the ladder to put on the ornaments!

Wishing all a little something- or a big something- magical to end the weekend!

Happy weekending!

Wrapping Up

What a ridiculous November. Not all bad, of course, but one for the books nonetheless (and I'm sure there are quite a few people who would agree). Our November 30th was one of the coldest days so far this season, and we wrapped it up with conversations about loss and growth and memories while using up the last of our Thanksgiving turkey in homemade tamales (we always use this tutorial for the masa, it has the best step-by-step).

How apropos, us literally wrapping up the notable leftovers of the month while trying to more abstractly bring resolution to the happenings of the same.

Our evening project ended well. Let's hope we can say the same about the month.

So long November 2016, may there never be another November like you again. Ever.

WellDoor

We got our DIY on this past weekend and finally checked a kinda-big project off the list. Winter is coming (catch my weak pun in the title?) and with our first freeze already under our belts our well house was becoming a source of concern- it still didn't have a door.

No door = no freeze protection. No freeze protection = frozen pipes. Frozen pipes = no water to the house. We had to deal with that situation a couple years ago and lemme tell ya, it was no fun. At all.

So we got busy and fixed it right up.

It rained buckets the night after we finished the installation, and this coming weekend we will probably have another freeze... plenty of opportunity for our project to prove itself! We made it mostly out of scraps, leftovers, and improvisations, and if I do say so myself the result was pretty darn nice!

High five for home improvement! Now... which line item is next, dishwasher or wood shed...?

Leaf Pile

That was fun... and the best part was they raked them all on their own! We do love fall.........

Happy Thanksgiving

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget 

that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

-Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, 1963, JFK

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. May your expressions of thanks on this day carry on in your actions throughout the year, until we all gather around the Thanksgiving table again. 

In the Kitchen

For most of yesterday and what I anticipate will be the rest of today, you will be able to find us in the kitchen making good things to share with our family tomorrow. You will also find me in there long past the cooking fun washing all the dishes by hand, because our sweet dishwasher has graced us with a complete breakdown just in time for the holidays.

But no matter... maybe I can entice my helpers to stick around and dry them as I wash...

Murphy's Law, right?

Happy Thanksgiving prep, y'all!